The Phoenix
by Skylar Goth
Summary: Harry has become very depressed and dark but hides behind a mask. When two of his deepest secrets come out, who becomes curious? None other than Draco Malfoy! And besides, what’s up with the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher? Will eventually be HPDM.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, if I did Harry and Malfoy would soooo be together by now! I do however, own Drenna Fox and Elizabeth Fox.

Summary: Harry has become very depressed and dark but hides behind a mask. When two of his deepest secrets come out, who becomes curious? None other than Draco Malfoy. And besides, what's up with the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher? Will _eventually_ be HP/DM. Slytherin! Harry.

Chapter One-Pain

Harry Potter sat on the roof of the Astronomy Tower letting the cool breeze wash over him. He lightly scratched at the roof. When he looked down, he glared at what he had written there. 'Cut'. Without realizing it, Harry brought the beautiful silver knife to his arm. He pressed down and raked it across the middle of his arm between his elbow and wrist. Surprised dawned on his handsome face as he glanced down and saw the red line. Quickly, he grabbed a cloth and wiped it off. Hermione's voice entered his thoughts, shrill and panicky, "Harry, you have to stop this! Yes, what your uncle did was wrong but destroying yourself isn't helping anything! What would Sirius say, Harry?"

Harry shook his head to clear her voice from his thoughts. He looked at the sky and saw the sun just beginning to peak over the trees. He stood, ready to head inside, when his arm throbbed painfully. Dead green eyes tightened in pain and strong tan fingers deftly wrapped the cut with bandages. Harry let his feet carry him back to Gryffindor Tower, not really paying attention to the path he took. When he finally made it back, the Fat Lady gave him a sad look and let him in. He collapsed on his four-poster, instantly falling into lucid nightmares.

Later that morning, Harry work to an angry but quiet voice. "Damn it, Harry! Why did you do this, again?" hissed Hermione, furiously. "You _promised_ me you were trying to stop! You gave me your word; does that mean nothing to you?"

Harry glanced around the room under the pretense of making sure the other boys were still asleep; really he was avoiding Hermione's eyes until he could put up his mask. Finally, he responded, "I'm sorry, 'Monie. I just couldn't help myself. I had a dream about Uncle Vernon…"

He left the sentence unfinished, knowing Hermione would feel guilty for yelling at him. Harry had long learned what made Ron and Hermione tick. It was easy for him to manipulate their feelings and thoughts toward him. True to what he suspected, Hermione's stern face fell. She gently smoothed his hair back from his forehead and looked at his arm. "It's better than usual." She said, making her voice falsely cheerful. "Here, let me rewrap it." She did so, gave him a look, and then hurried out of the dormitory.

Harry watched her leave then glanced at his clock. Noticing it was time to get up, he did so. He dressed then preformed a quick little spell that hid his fresh wounds and bandages but didn't hide his old scars. That didn't bother him but he knew he couldn't let anyone else find out so he kept his arms covered at all times. The last thing he needed was Dumbledore on his case. He heard the other boys begin to wake and hurried down to the common room to wait with Hermione for Ron.

Twenty minutes later the trio of friends had finished breakfast and was getting ready for their first class, Advanced Defense against the Dark Arts, with the Slytherins of course. No one knew who their new professor would be since he or she hadn't been at the Start of New Term Feast.

While Ron hurried to get them good seats, Hermione drew Harry aside; unaware that Draco Malfoy was listening to their conversation. "Harry, this has got to stop," stated Hermione with steely determination. "While I care about what your uncle did to you, I can't deal with this any longer. If this happens again, I'm going to Dumbledore. Maybe he can get some help for you."

Harry had to struggle to keep his face blank, white hot anger flash through him. I knew I should have wiped her memory when I had the chance, the boy who lived thought angrily to himself. Still, he forced himself to sound weak and pathetic. "I can't stop, 'Mione! You have no idea the rush it gives you. It's like an addiction," he whispered.

Hermione was about to respond when Ron appeared beside them. "Come on, you two! Class is about to start," he cried, grabbing their arms and dragging them toward the class room. "You two weren't having another row, were you? Honestly, sometimes you two sound like an old married couple!"

Harry and Hermione both blushed then glared at Ron. He ignored them both and pulled them toward the seats he had managed to grab. They were right near the front. Harry carefully avoided Ron's curious gaze as they made their way to their seats. The class sat nervously waiting for the new teacher to arrive. Suddenly, the door flew open and their new professor stalked in.

She was tall, at least 5'10. Her eyes were the strangest anyone had ever seen, one coal black the other fire red. Long black hair with blue streaks fell to her waist billowing out behind her as she walked. Her robes were a deep red and she wore black hip-huggers and a black tank top underneath. Black boots made up the ensemble. She had many piercings from her ear to her eyebrow (there was one on her bellybutton as well but they didn't know that!). Jewelry wise, she had a spiked dog collar along with other necklaces, and jelly bracelets of every color graced her arms. Her eyes were thick with eyeliner, as her mouth was with lip liner. The eye shadow was deep read as was her lip stick.

"Professor Fox that is my name. It would do you good not to forget it," the terrifying woman said, her voice carrying an unconscious musical lit. "I went over the lesson plans for the last five years and have discovered you are slightly behind for students your age. I also noticed you learned the most from Professor Lupin; bless him, in your third year. To see if the plans are correct, I shall be giving you a test to discover where you should begin."

She paused at the groans echoing from the room. "Hush you all! This is not a difficult test; it is merely an informative test for me. Now," she waved a sleek, thin black wand and a test appeared on everyone's desk, "begin!"

And so they did, the test only took twenty minutes but during that time their new professor hadn't looked up from the book she had opened at the beginning. She still didn't look up when she waved her wand and all the tests flew into a neat stack on her desk. She studied the stack for a minute before giving a small nod of satisfaction. "Alright, well done, class. As I had hoped, you are ready to begin the Patronus Charm. Very well, Mr. Potter!" Harry jumped when she called out his name.

"Yes, Professor Fox?" he questioned calmly. Harry already liked this new teacher's brisk manner but underlying respect for the class. But he wasn't about to let anyone else know that.  
"I've heard you can already do this spell. Please explain the basis of it, and then give us an example."

Harry walked to the front of the room, slightly annoyed but with a firm mask of indifference in place he began. "A Patronus acts like a shield between you and a dementor. The dementor feeds off of it not you. It's harder if there are more. The basis of a spell is a happy thought or a very powerful memory. Every Patronus takes the shape of something that is somehow connected to you. Right, Professor?" Harry knew he was correct but something made him turn to Professor Fox.

She nodded, "Yes. For example, my Patronus takes the form of a tiger."

A Slytherin girl, Ann Forgerty, spoke up, "Why that form, Professor?"

A smirk appeared on the full lips of their new teacher, "There are actually two reasons, one I will not reveal to you. My Animagus form is a tiger."

Hermione let out a gasp, which made the surrounding students stare at her. "A-a Tiger, Professor? But that means, I believe, that you are somehow connected to the House of Shadows!" she exclaimed.

A surprised look flashed across the Professor's face; it was quickly replaced by a look of slight worry and respect. "I'm afraid, that's all we have time for today. Ms. Granger, stay after class, would you? Sixteen inches on Patronus's, the forms they take, why they take them, who invented them, and how they were discovered on Monday!" she called as the students began to pack up. More groans echoed around the room, but their excitement was more than their anger about homework.

Ron and Harry waited outside the door for Hermione. She finally exited looking very happy. "What was that all about, Mione?" asked Ron as they headed to Charms.

"The House of Shadows is a legendary house, supposedly created hundreds and hundreds of years ago to maintain the balance of good and evil. You see, once all witches and wizards could do wandless magic with ease but as they intermarried with muggles and stopped using it, it vanished from the blood. Before that happened, a group of the most elite witches and wizard came together to protect the balance between muggles and wizards; after the Secrecy Act was put into play, their goals changed. But, they continued only allowing men and women powerful in wandless magic into their group. Very, very few witches and wizards now days know about the House of Shadows, they work in normal jobs, have normal lives but when something is threatening the wizarding world, they come together. There are only two ways to identify a member of the House of Shadows, first is their very unusual Animagi forms-all of them are born with an Animagus form; second is the scar on the exact place where their heart is. But most of them normally use glamour spells to keep it covered. It's usually a picture of their Animagus form," Hermione explained as they waited for Professor Flitwick to come in.

"Wow, that's pretty amazing," said Ron, softly.

"But, no one actually knows if they exist!" Hermione suddenly snarled. "Their legendary, remember? Most people don't even know their real; I didn't even believe it until I met Professor Fox! Why have they stayed hidden so long? During Voldmort's rise to power, they didn't fight! Why did they abandon the Wizarding World?"

The three friends sat in a confused silence until Professor Flitwick came in, and the lesson began. The rest of the day passed in a similar manner. Hermione, very disgruntled and confused; Ron, trying to reason with her; and Harry, wondering about their new Professor. By dinner, the whole school was buzzing about Professor Fox. Many people were wondering about her past and if she was going to be any good. Harry ignored it all, thinking to himself that he had to get out that night.

The trio headed to bed early that night, tired from their first day back. Even Harry, was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Deep in the dungeons of the school, though, a blonde Slytherin sat awake. He was battling within himself. Should he write to his father and risk the death of the new teacher? Or should he keep his silence, and watch what she did? Troubled, the young man resigned himself to a long night of tossing and turning.

A/N: Sos, what do you think? This is actually really really different from my original draft but I'm kind of going with it.  Please review!  


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